Support plate for installing tile

ABSTRACT

A support for installing facing materials such as ceramic tiles on a substrate such as floors, walls and ceilings wherein the support plate has a plurality of spaced apart recesses in the plate material, with the recesses being open at the top surface and have solid sidewalls and a base, and a plurality of slots in the non-recessed portions of the plate material extending through the top surface and bottom surface, the slots joining one or more adjacent recesses. The support plate of the invention is used for tile installations between the substrate and such tile. Thin-set mortar that is used to secure the tile to the support plate flows into the recesses and into the slots forming a continuous bond between the mortar and the adjacent slots providing for a strong bond between the support plate, mortar and the tiles.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to facing materials such as ceramic tiles whichare installed over substrates such as floors, ceilings and walls using asupport plate or decoupling mat between the substrate and the facingmaterial to minimize or eliminate stresses which may cause cracking ordetachment of the facing material from the substrate.

2. Description of Related Art

The use of facing materials, such as, ceramic tiles are well known toprovide an aesthetically pleasing appearance as well as durability andwear resistance. The following description will be directed to ceramictiles for convenience although it should be appreciated by those skilledin the art that other facing materials such as stone flooring, granite,slate, plastics, and the like, may be employed with the support plate ofthe invention.

In general, ceramic tile is installed over a substrate such as a woodenfloor using a mortar to set the tile. Unfortunately, because of thedifferences in properties between the substrate, mortar, and ceramictile, stresses formed during such installation often result in damage inthe form of cracks or delamination. Previously, most ceramic tileinstallations utilized mud setting beds, wherein a mixture of sand andcement was applied over the floor or other substrate and the ceramictile set in the mud. The mud beds were generally in the range of about1½ inch thick.

Modem ceramic tile installations now often use thin layer processes,which require use of thin-set mortar systems wherein the thickness ofthe thin-set mortar is about 1/2 inch thick. Flooring systems of thistype are generally less costly, lighter, and more easily coordinatedwith installations of ceramic tile and stone.

Because of the thinness of the installation however, stresses at theinterface between the mortar, substrate, and ceramic tile are muchgreater than in the case of a thin bed installation and it has beenfound that these stresses cause cracking of the tile and/or delaminationof the tile of the floor. In an effort to decrease the stressdifferences and the problems of tile cracking and delamination, supportplates or otherwise known as decoupling or uncoupling plates/mats havebeen developed. Currently available support plates are used between thesubstrate and the ceramic or stone tile to provide a base for the tile,as well as to decrease or eliminate the stresses in the installation. Anumber of support plates have been developed as indicated in thefollowing patents.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,917,933 discloses a plastic sheet that is used as asub-carrier and provides a series of parallel, alternating,dovetailed-shaped channels and grooves. A cross-meshed lattice matting,having filaments, is glued or partially fused to the backside of theplastic sheet and serves to anchor the sheet to the underlyingfoundation.

In U.S. Pat. No. 5,255,482 a support plate is used between a rigidhorizontal base and a top flooring layer (i.e., tile). The support plateis a crack isolation layer that comprises a hard, essentially rigidmaterial, that is in load bearing relationship with the base and the topflooring layer. The crack isolation layer comprises precast rigid crackisolation sheets having recesses or holes. Alternatively, the crackisolation layer comprises a plurality of spaced pilings of rigid,non-compressible material, which are mounted in spaced apartrelationship on a cloth matting.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,434,901 shows another support plate of a sheet materialhaving a number of recesses therein. Each recess within this supportplate has overhangs that define undercut portions therein that entrapmortar in the recess and provide a secure bond between a ceramic tileand the support plate. The support plate is positioned on the substrateand secured thereto, and then thin-set mortar is applied to the surfaceof the support plate and fills the recesses within such plate.

In UK Patent Application GB 2141459 a drainage plate is shown havingstamped-out portions recessed on one side of the plate with u-shapedopenings provided in the inclined laterals walls of the these recessedportions to permit water to pass there-through. The drainage plate isinstalled between the substrate and the ceramic tile.

In U.S. Pat. No. 7,536,835 a support plate having support elements thatare hollow towards the underside, capable of support, and project outbeyond the top of the support plate, is applied on the sub-floor.Channels carrying open water are formed between the support elements anda water-permeable covering that is disposed on the support elements. Thesupport plate is embedded in a thin-bed mortar layer on the sub floor,and ceramic tiles are laid and attached to a covering (non-woven fabric)residing on the other side of the support plate.

In U.S. Publication Application No. US/200610201092, another supportplate is shown for achieving a coupling between the base and a surfacecladding. This support plate has multiple open chambers with a net-likefabric attached at the open end of such chamber. A thin-set mortar isapplied over the support plate to fill the chambers and secure themortar to the plate via the net-like fabric for attaching the supportplate to the ceramic tile.

Unfortunately, while the prior art has developed a number of supportplates to be used in ceramic and stone tile installations, each of theseprior art support plates continues to introduce some level or degree ofunwanted stress cracking and/or delamination. As such, there is still aneed for improved support plates that decrease and/or avoid stresscracking of the tiles, while also decreasing and/or avoidingdelamination of the tiles caused by stresses resulting in theinstallation.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Bearing in mind the problems and deficiencies of the prior art, it istherefore an object of the present invention to provide a support platefor installing facing materials such as ceramic and stone tiles onsubstrates such as floors, ceilings and walls wherein the support plateminimizes and/or eliminates stresses which may cause cracking ordetachment of the set tile.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a flooringinstallation wherein facing materials such as ceramic and stone tilesare installed over a substrate such as floors and ceilings wherein asupport or decoupling plate is used between the substrate and theceramic or stone tile to minimize and/or eliminate stresses which maycause cracking or detachment of the set tile to the substrate.

In one or more embodiments, the invention is directed to a support platefor installing facing materials on a substrate. The support plateincludes a sheet material having a top surface and a bottom surface, anda plurality of spaced apart adjacent recesses residing across the sheetmaterial with each recess open at the top and having a bottom andsidewalls comprising the sheet material. Together the sheet material andthe recesses define a plate having a thickness extending from a topsurface of the plate to a bottom surface of the plate. The support platealso includes an underlay mat attached to the bottom surface of theplate. A plurality of slots traverse through the sheet material at thetop surface of the plate and reside between the adjacent recesses.

In other embodiments, the invention is directed to support plate forinstalling tile on a substrate. The support plate includes a sheetmaterial having a top surface and a bottom surface, and a plurality ofcircular recesses spaced apart from a plurality of adjacentflared-square recesses. These circular and flared-square recesses resideacross the sheet material and have bottom and sidewalls comprising thesheet material. Together the sheet material and the circular andflared-square recesses define a plate having a thickness extending froma top surface to a bottom surface thereof. The support plate alsoincludes an underlay mat attached to the bottom surface of the plate. Aplurality of open slots traverse through the sheet material at the topsurface of the plate and expose a top surface of the underlay mat. Theseplurality of open slots reside between and connect at least one circularrecess to an adjacent at least one flared-square recess.

In still other embodiments, the invention is directed to a method ofinstalling facing materials. The method includes providing a substrate,and depositing a first mortar over the substrate followed by attaching asupport plate to the substrate via the first mortar. The support plateincludes a sheet material having a top surface and a bottom surface, anda plurality of adjacent recesses residing across the sheet material.Together the sheet material and the recesses define a plate having athickness extending from a top surface of the plate to a bottom surfaceof the plate. The support plate also includes an underlay mat attachedto the bottom surface of the plate. A plurality of slots traversethrough the sheet material at the top surface of the plate and residebetween the adjacent recesses. A second mortar is then deposited overthe support plate to fill both the plurality of recesses and theplurality of slots. This second mortar residing within the plurality ofslots contacts the second mortar residing within the plurality ofrecesses. A facing material is then provided over the second mortar.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The features of the invention believed to be novel and the elementscharacteristic of the invention are set forth with particularity in theappended claims. The figures are for illustration purposes only and arenot drawn to scale. The invention itself, however, both as toorganization and method of operation, may best be understood byreference to the detailed description which follows taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1A is a cross-sectional view of a prior art support plate securedto a substrate.

FIG. IB is a top plan view of the support plate of FIG. 1A taken alongline 1-1′ of FIG. 1A.

FIG. 2A is a top plan view of a support plate III accordance with one ormore embodiments of the invention.

FIGS. 2B-2E are cross-sectional perspective views of the support plateof FIG. 2A taken along the various lines therein.

FIGS. 3A-3E are top plan and cross-sectional perspective views showingan installation system of various embodiments of the invention using thesupport plate shown in FIGS. 2A-2E.

FIG. 4A IS a top plan view of another support plate of other embodimentsof the invention.

FIGS. 4B-4D are cross-sectional perspective views of the support plateof FIG. 4A taken along the various lines therein.

FIGS. 5A-5D are top plan and cross-sectional perspective views showingan installation system of one or more embodiments of the invention usingthe support plate shown in FIGS. 4A4D.

FIGS. 6A-6D are top plan views showing various configurations and pathsthat interconnecting slots of the invention may reside across thedifferent support plates of the invention.

FIGS. 7A-7B are top plan and cross-sectional perspective views of otherslots of the invention residing across the present support plates.

FIGS. 8A-9B show support plates in accordance with one or moreembodiments of the invention having different shaped recesses connectedor adjoined together by open slots residing across the planar uppersurface of the present support plates.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT(S)

In describing the preferred embodiment of the present invention,reference will be made herein to FIGS. 1-9B of the drawings in whichlike numerals refer to like features of the invention.

Referring to the drawings, FIGS. 1A and 1B show a conventional prior artsupport plate 105, such as, those described above. The support plate 105is installed over a substrate 100, such as a floor, using mortar 102.The support plate 105 is a sheet of plastic material having a number ofrecesses 120 formed across and within the support plate. Each recess 120has sidewalls and a bottom wall composed of the support plate material.Raised portions of the support plate material reside between therecesses 120 with empty cavity regions 106 residing under the raisedportions of the support plate.

Attached to the bottom of the support plate 105 is a fabric-like mat104. In attaching the support plate 105 to the substrate 100, the mortar102 residing over the substrate 100 impregnates the fabric-like mat 104to secure the support plate to the substrate. A thin-set mortar 200 isthen applied over the support plate 105 to provide a base for theinstallation of tiles and grout over the support plate (not shown).

As shown from the side view of FIG. 1A, and the top plan view of FIG. 1B(along line I1′ of FIG. 1A), the thin-set mortar 200 fills only therecesses 120 and contacts the sidewalls and bottoms of such recesses.Since the support plate material resides over the empty cavity regions106, which reside under or at a backside of the support plate, thethin-set mortar 200 does not penetrate, contact or fill such emptycavity regions 106. As such, the fabric-like mat 104 that is exposedwithin these empty cavity regions 106 (see, FIG. 1B) does not contactthe thin-set mortar 200.

These empty cavity regions 106 of the plate are not as strong underpressure as compared to those sections of the plate filled with thin-setmortar 200 (e.g., the recesses 120 filled with mortar 200). As such, theempty cavity regions 106 impart weak and less durable portions of theconventional support plate 105 that allow for movement in and of thelaid support plate, which in turn, may induce stress cracking and/ordelamination of the tiles and/or grout residing on top of the thin-setmortar 200.

Unlike that of the conventional prior art support plates 105 shown inFIGS. 1A-B, the support plates of the present invention improve thedurability of the laid support plate to decrease and/or avoid stresscracking and/or delamination in facing materials (e.g., tiles onsubstrates such as floors, ceilings, walls, etc.) and in the mortarsused to lay such facing materials. FIGS. 2A-9B show one or moreembodiments of support plates of the invention. Again, while the presentinvention is described generally in connection with ceramic tiles forease of understanding the invention, it should be appreciated by thoseskilled in the art that other facing materials, such as, stone flooring(tile), granite, slate, plastics, and the like, may be employed with thevarious support plates of the invention. It should also be appreciatedthat while reference is made herein to a support plate, the varioussupport plates of the invention may also be referred to as a decouplingplate/mat/or membrane, uncoupling plate/mat/or membrane, support mat/ormembrane, underlayment, and the like.

Referring to FIGS. 2A-2E, a support plate in accordance with one or moreembodiments of the invention is shown generally as numeral 10A. Thesupport plate is made of a material 5, such as a foil-like plasticmaterial, and has a top surface 11 and a bottom surface 12. The supportplate may be composed of a high-density polyethylene or polypropyleneplastic material. FIG. 2A shows a top plan view of the support plate 10Ahaving a number of recesses 20 formed across the support plate 10A.Since the recesses 20 are formed in the sheet material 5 of the plate10, such recesses have a similar sidewall thickness and base thicknessas that of the material 5.

The support plates of the invention are in communication with and/orattached to an underlying fabric-like mat 4. The underlying mat 4 may bebonded, adhered to, or attached to the support plate material 5 to thevarious support plates of the invention. The underlying mat 4 mayinclude a non woven fabric material, a woven fabric material, and thelike. In one or more embodiments the underlying mat 4 may be composed ofa polypropylene spun bond fabric.

Residing across the support plate 10A is a number of slots 30A thatprovide increased durability to the present laid support plate.Referring to one or more embodiments of the invention, adjacent recesses20 may be connected to each other along one or more planes by slots 30A.For instance, FIG. 2A shows adjacent recesses 20 adjoined together byslots 30A along an x-plane. However, it should be appreciated that theadjacent recesses may be adjoined along the y-plane, adjoined along boththe x-plane and y-plane, or even at scattered locations across the x-,y-planes.

While the slots 30A are shown in FIG. 2A as recessed slots that adjoinadjacent recesses 20 along a single path (e.g., row, column, etc.), itshould be appreciated and understood that in certain embodiments of theinvention, as discussed in detail below, the slots are open slots 30Bthat connect adjacent recesses 20 while simultaneously exposingunderlying fabric-like mat 4. Still further discussed below, in otherembodiments the slots may be openings 30 that do not connect adjacentrecesses 20, but rather provide an opening within the material 5 of thesupport place 10A to expose the underlying fabric-like mat 4.

Referring again, to FIG. 2A, while the slots 30A are shown as recessedslots that adjoin adjacent recesses 20 along a single path (e.g., row,column, etc.), it should be appreciated and understood that such slots30A may have any shape, and reside along any path, that allow for two ormore recesses to be joined together. For instance, while not meant tolimit the invention, the slots 30A may be L-shaped, X-shaped, H-shaped,C-shaped, T-shaped, square-shaped, rectangular, circular, triangular, orany other geometric or polynomial shape that allows for two, three, fouror more recesses to be connected together, regardless of whether eachand all the connected recesses are adjacent to one another. It shouldfurther be appreciated that in certain embodiments, as discussed furtherbelow in relation to FIGS. 7A-7B, the slots 30A in the present supportplates need not adjoin adjacent recesses.

Referring to FIGS. 2B-E, cross-sectional perspective views of a supportplate of the invention is shown along lines 1A-1A′, 2A-2A′, 3A-3A′ and4A-4A′ of FIG. 2A, respectively. In one or more embodiments, thematerial 5 of the support plate resides at the top surface 11 of thesupport plate 10A, along sidewalls 22A of recesses 20, at the bottom ofrecesses 20, and may even reside along sidewalls 32A of slots 30A, andat the bottom of slots 30A.

In other embodiments of the invention, as discussed in detail below inreference to FIGS. 4A-9B, the material 5 of the support plate does notreside along the sidewalls 32A of openings nor at the bottom thereof.Rather, in these embodiments the slots 30A are open slots that traversethrough the material 5 of the support plate 10B to form aperturestherein and expose the underlying fabric-like mat 4 of the plate.

FIGS. 2A-3E show embodiments of the invention wherein the presentsupport plates 10A may have material 5 of the plate extending across theentire support plate (i.e., having no open voids that expose theunderlying fabric-like mat 4 as in FIGS. 4A-9B). In the embodimentsshown in FIGS. 2A-3E the slots 30A are recessed (i.e., recessed slots)and both adjoin and physically connect two or more recesses 20 to eachother, whether such recesses are adjacent to one another or not.

FIG. 2B shows that along line 1A-1A′, which is substantially at thecenter of the recesses 20 and adjoining slots 30A, the support platematerial 5 extends across all bottoms of the recesses 20 and slots 30A.FIG. 2C shows portions of the sidewalls 32 a of slots 30A, portions ofsidewalls 22 a of recesses 20, as well as the support plate material 5residing at the bottoms of such recesses 20 and slots 30A along line1B-1B′ of FIG. 2A.

Referring to FIG. 2D, it is shown that the plate material 5 residesacross the entire support plate 10A with regions where the recesses 20,their sidewalls 22A and recess bottoms, as well as regions where theslots 30A, their sidewalls 32A and their bottoms, all have the supportplate material 5. In particular, FIG. 2D shows a perspective view alongline 3A-3A′ in the x-direction whereby the material 5 of the plateresides at the top surface 11 of the plate and within all portions ofthe recesses 20. The empty cavity regions 6 are shown residing betweenadjacent recesses 20.

FIG. 2E shows a perspective view along line 4A-4A′ in the y-directionwhereby the material of the plate resides across its top surface 11,within the recesses as shown by the portions of recess sidewalls 22A,and within slots 30A along the openings sidewalls 32A and bottomsurface. As shown, the slots 30A have a narrower width as compared to awidth of the recesses 20 formed in the plate 5. Again, as will beunderstood in accordance with the description of the present invention,these recessed slots of these embodiments of the invention may connecttwo, three, four or more recesses 20 within the plate 5.

FIGS. 3A-3E show a method of installing the support plate of FIGS. 2A-Eover an adhesive or mortar 102 (e.g., a cementious mortar) to secure theplate to a substrate 100 including, for instance, a floor, ceiling,wall, angled surface, etc. In doing so, the adhesive or mortar 102 isdeposited over the substrate 100 followed by providing the support plate10A of the invention over the mortar 102 and pressing the plate intoplace within the mortar 102. The fabric-like mat 4 at the underside 12of the plate maximizes bonding of the support plate 10A to the substrate100 via the mortar 102. A thin-set mortar 200 is then applied over thesupport plate 10A to provide a base for the installation of facingmaterials 300 and grout 310 thereover.

FIGS. 3A-B show that the mortar 200 completely fills both recesses 20and slots 30A, and contacts the material 5 of the support plate at thebottom of such recesses and openings. FIGS. 3C-E show alternate views ofthe mortar filled support plate of these embodiments of the invention.As is shown, the mortar 200 entirely fills the recesses 20 and slots30A, making contact with recess sidewalls 22A, recess bottoms, openingsidewalls 32A and opening bottoms, and completely covers the top surface11 of the plate.

In those embodiments of the invention having recessed slots 30A, suchrecessed slots provide additional exposed support plate surface areasthat the mortar 200 contacts, and they decrease the area of empty cavityregions 6 residing between the support plate 10A and substrate 100 whilemaintaining sufficient separation between such substrate and facingmaterials. As a result, the recessed slots 30A of the invention provideincreased durability and strength to the present support plates 10A.This increased durability and strength leads to reduced stress crackingand delamination of facing materials and/or grout residing over suchplates. The mortar within the recessed slots 30A also provides increasedor enhanced mechanical bond of facing materials to the mortar 200 to theplate 10A.

Referring to other embodiments of the invention, FIGS. 4A-SD show one ormore embodiments of support plates of the invention as described indetail below. In these embodiments of the invention, each support plate10B is composed of a material S (e.g., a foil-like plastic material),and has top surface 11 and bottom surface 12. The top plan view of FIG.4A shows the support plate 10B having a number of recesses 20, each withthe support plate material S residing along the recess sidewalls 22B andbottoms thereof. The support plate 10B also has a number of open slots30B that traverse through the support plate material S and expose theunderlying fabric-like mat 4 that is in communication with and/orbonded, adhered or attached to the support plate material S to formsupport plate 10B.

The open slots 30B provide increased durability to the present laidsupport plate 10B and decrease both cracking and delamination problems.These open slots 30B may be provided within the present support plates10B by a variety of known techniques including, but not limited to,cutting openings within the plate, stamping or punching openings withinthe plate, molding a plate having such openings, and the like. Thesesupport plates 10B have a number of open slots 30B that do not havebottoms and thereby expose the underlying mat 4 of the plate. The openslots 30B exposing the underlying mat 4 material may either contact andconnect adjacent recesses 20 to each other (see, e.g., FIGS. 4A-SD), orthey may reside between adjacent recesses 20 and not contact any of suchrecesses (see, e.g., FIGS. 7A-7B).

In one or more embodiments, the open slots 30B may have no bottoms orsidewalls. Rather, they are provided as cuts or openings within thesupport plate material 5 to expose the underlying mat material 4. Inother embodiments, the support plates may be fabricated with the openslots 30B whereby such slots 30B are open at the bottom (i.e., have nobottoms) but have sidewalls that define a pillar column that is to beformed upon application of a thin-set mortar. In these embodiments, thesidewalls may be provided to form a conical, tubular or othertrapezoidal shape, all of which have no bottom material (mat 4 isexposed) that is capable of being filled with mortar. These sidewallsmay be either straight sidewalls, or they may be transverse or angledsidewalls to form transverse or angled open slots 30B. In each of theseembodiments of the invention the slots 30B at least expose theunderlying mat 4 to provide a strong interlocking bonding connectionbetween the mat 4, mortar 200 provided over the support plate, thesupport plate itself, and facing material (e.g., tile) provided over themortar 200 and support plate.

Again, it should be appreciated that the openings within the supportplates of the invention may be open slots 30B of any shape or size, andreside along any path, that allow for two or more recesses to be joinedtogether. For instance, the open slots 30B may be L-shaped, X-shaped,H-shaped, C-shaped, T-shaped, square, rectangular, circular, triangular,or any other geometric or polynomial shape, or even combinations thereof(see, e.g., FIGS. 6A-6D), that allows for two, three, four or morerecesses to be connected together, regardless of whether each and allthe connected recesses are adjacent to one another. In one or moresupport plates of the invention, a combination of slots (i.e., recessedslots or open slots) may be provided that connect one or more recessestogether in combination with openings residing between and notcontacting any recesses.

Referring to FIGS. 4B-D, support plate 10B is shown respectively alonglines 1B-1B′, 2B-2B′, 3B-3B′ and 4B-4B′ of FIG. 4A. As is shown, theopen slots 30B form apertures or voids in the support plate material 5and expose the underlying mat 4 at those portions of the plate 10B wheresuch open slots 30B reside. FIG. 4B shows a perspective view of theplate 10B along line 1B-1B′ in the x-direction. The open slots 30Btraverse through the plate material 5, such that, the plate material 5resides only at the bottoms of the recesses along line 1B-1B′ as isshown by reference numerals 20. Alternatively, as shown by referencenumeral 20″ in FIG. 4B, the open slots 30B may traverse through theraised portion of the support plate 10B and partially into the sidewall22B of the recess 20″. In this manner a portion of the recess 20″sidewall may remain within the support plate 10B.

FIG. 4C shows a perspective view in the x-direction along lines 2B-2B′and 3B-3B′. As shown, the open slots 30B are provided or formed in thesupport plate 10B such that they have sidewalls 32B having a length thatis substantially equivalent to the thickness of the support platematerial 5 itself. A perspective view in the y-direction along line4B-4B′ is also shown in FIG. 4C (however, the sidewall portion 22B ofrecesses 20 is not shown). Again, the plate material 5 resides acrossthe raised portion of the plate 10B and within the recesses 20.Referring to FIG. 4D, a perspective view in the y-direction along line5B-5B′ is shown. This line 5B-5B′ resides across the plate 10B andacross the open slots 30B. The material 5 of the plate does not residein locations where open slots 30B reside, such that, an upper surface ofthe underlying mat 4 material is exposed.

FIGS. 5A-D show a method of installing the support plate 10B of FIGS.4A-D over adhesive or mortar 102 to secure the plate to a substrate 100including, for instance, a floor, ceiling, wall, angled surface, etc.The support plate is secured to the substrate 100 by adhesive or mortar102 impregnating and adhering to the mat 4 of the plate 10B as describedabove. A thin-set mortar 200 is then applied over the support plate 10Bto provide a base for the installation of facing materials 300 and grout310. The mortar 200 is pressed into and completely fills the recesses 20and open slots 30B.

Referring to FIG. 5D, in those portions of the plate 10B where openslots 30B reside, the mortar 200 fills such open slots 30B with aportion of mortar 210 extending out and under the plate 10B at locationscorresponding to such slots 30B. In so doing, pillars of mortar 210reside under the raised portion of the plate 10B and extend between thebottom surface 12 of material 5 of the raised portion of the plate 10Band an exposed upper surface of the underlying mat 4.

The deposited mortar 210 may form mortar pillars of an essentiallytrapezoidal prism shape or cone shape within these open slots 30B. Atselect locations (see, e.g., selected mortar 210 in FIG. 5D), or at alllocations, the deposited mortar 210 may flow under and spread outunderneath the raised portion of the plate 10B with a portion thereofpenetrating under and contacting the underside 12 of the plate. Thedegree to which the mortar 210 spreads out underneath the underside 12of plate 10 depends on various factors including, but not limited to,the amount of mortar 200 deposited, the amount of pressure applied by aninstaller during installation of the mortar 200 over plate 10, theviscosity of the mortar 200 used (i.e., degree of mortar wetness), andthe like. This penetrating portion of mortar 210 is retained or residesunder the support plate 10B in these non-recess 20 regions of the plateto form an interlocking structure of the mortar 200, 210 with thesupport plate 10B and the underlying mat 4 of the plate 10B.

The mortar 210 between the bottom surface 12 of the raised plate portionand the mat 4 makes direct contact with both the underside of supportplate 10B and the upper surface of the mat 4 to form an interlockingbond there-between. These retained portions of mortar 210 residing underand contacting the underside 12 of the support plate 10B and the mat 4provide increased or enhanced mechanical bonds between facing materialsto the mortar 200 and to both the plate 10B and its underlying mat 4.These pillars of mortar 210 also reduce the amount of empty cavityregions 6 residing between the underside support plate 10B and the mat.Mortar 210 provides the support plates of the invention with increaseddurability and strength as discussed below, and also aid in more rapidhydration of the cementious mortar.

The support plates 10B of FIGS. 4A-5D provide additional surface areafor the mortar 200 to contact, decrease the area of the empty cavityregions 6 residing between the top of the plate and mat, as well asprovide increased durability and strength to the plate by reducing theamount of weak and/or less durable locations or portions of the supportplate. Again, this increased durability and strength of the presentsupport plates minimize and/or eliminate stress cracking anddelamination of facing materials and/or grout residing over such plates.

While the invention has been described above in conjunction with variousembodiments thereof, it should be appreciated and understood thatnumerous different support plates may be envisioned within the scope ofthe present invention. For instance, referring to FIGS. 6A-6D the slots30, which may be recessed slots, open slots or combinations thereof, maybe connected along a variety of paths or planes. These paths mayinclude, for instance, diagonal paths residing in a singleplane-direction, or a plurality of crossed lines whether they arediagonal, horizontal or vertical, and whether such crossed lines resideacross the entire support plate or just portions thereof.

It should also be appreciated and understood that the slots 30 withinthe present support plates are not limited to lines residing alongvertical or horizontal paths. Again, referring to FIGS. 7A-7B, suchslots 30 may be a plurality of individual perforated slots 30C thatreside across the support plate in locations that are adjacent to orbetween recesses 20 while not contacting such recesses 20. In one ormore embodiments, these perforated slots 30C are openings thattransverse through the plate material 5 to expose the underlying mat 4.

While the perforated slots 30C in FIGS. 7A-B are shown as circular openperforated slots 30C, it should be appreciated that the perforated slots30C may have a variety of different shapes and sizes that allow for asufficient amount of mortar 200, 210 to fill such perforated slots 30Cand provide the laid support plate of the invention having increaseddurability and strength. Shapes of perforated slots 30C not contactingadjacent recesses 20 may include, but are not limited to, circular,square, rectangular, oval, crossed line/slot segment openings, or anyother geometrical or polynomial shape, or even combinations thereof. Incertain embodiments, the perforated slots 30C may even be of differentshapes, dimensions and/or widths on a support plate. However, in each ofthe embodiments, these perforated slots 30C reside between recesses 20and do not contact or interfere with these recesses 20.

In still other embodiments of the invention, it should be appreciatedthat the recesses 20, while shown as circular shapes in FIGS. 2A-7B, arenot limited to this shape and may have any desired shape, for example,square, rectangular, oval, any other geometrical or polynomial shape, oreven combinations of any of the foregoing. In one or more embodiments,the support plates 10 of the invention may include a combination of twoor more staggered shapes. For instance, FIGS. 8A-9B show a combinationof circular recess shapes 20 in combination with flared-square recessshapes 21, whereby the circular and flared-square shapes reside in analternating pattern along both the x-plane and y-plane. Both thecircular recesses 20 and the flared-square recesses 21 have planarbottom surfaces and sidewalls for receiving mortar 200.

In accordance with the invention, the various support plates 10 of theinvention may have a variety of different thickness', lengths andwidths, which are ultimately dependent upon the end use of such supportplate. In one or more embodiments, the entire support plate 10 may havea thickness ranging from about 1.5 to 13 mm (about 1116 to 112 inches),preferably from about 1.5 to 3.2 mm (about 1116 to 118 inches). Thesupport plate material 5 may have a thickness of about 0.55 mm, with atolerance ranging from about 0.3 to 0.7 mm. The underlying mat 4 may becomposed of polypropylene spun bond material having a mat weight ofabout 70 g/sq mt, with a tolerance ranging from about 30-150 g/sq mt. Inthese embodiments, both recesses 20, 21, etc. and slots 30 (i.e., 30A,30B, 30C, etc.) may have depths corresponding to the thickness of thesupport plate 10 (i.e., have depths ranging from about 1.5 to 12.7 mm,preferably from about 1.5 to 3.2 mm). Those slots 30A, 30B contactingand connecting adjacent recesses 20, 21 have lengths corresponding tothe distance between such recesses being connected, and may have widthsranging from about 3 to 35 mm, or even more or less. The width ofrecesses 20, 21 may vary widely depending on the use, and in certainembodiments may have a diameter ranging from about 10 to 65 mm, or evenmore or less.

Referring to one or more embodiments of the invention as shown in FIGS.8A-9B, a support plate 10D is shown having circular recesses 20 incombination with flared-square recess 21. Again, these differentpatterned recesses 20, 21 reside in an alternating pattern across thesupport plate 10D in both the x-plane and y-plane. Since theflared-square recess shapes take up increased surface area of the plate,as compared to circular recesses alone, an increased amount of mortar200, 210 is retained within and over the support plate. The supportplate 10D of FIGS. 8A-9B may be composed of a high-density polyethylenematerial 5 having a thickness of about 0.25 mm to about 1.25 mm,preferably about 0.55 mm. The underlying mat 4 may be a polypropylenespun bond material having a mat weight of about 70 g/sq mt, with atolerance ranging from about 30-150 g/sq mt.

As shown in FIGS. 8A-9B, the support plate 10D may have a depth orthickness ranging from about 1.5 to 13 mm, preferably from about 1.5 to3.2 mm, and most preferably about 2.75 mm, with the recesses 20, 21 alsohave depths corresponding to (or the same as) the support plate 10D. Thediameter of the circular recesses 20 may range from about 5 to 60 mm (ormore or less), preferably from about 13 to 35 mm, and most preferablyabout 20 mm. The diameter of the flared-square recess 21 residing alongthe diagonal thereof (i.e. at its largest diameter) may range from about5 to 70 mm (or more or less), preferably from about 13 to 63 mm, andmost preferably about 28 mm, with the smaller inner portion of suchflared-square recesses having diameters corresponding to its diagonaldiameter.

The center from one circular recess 20 to the center of an adjacentflared-square recess 21 may have a length ranging from about 6 to 75 mm(or more or less), preferably from about 11 to 66 mm, and mostpreferably about 26 mm. The open slots 30A each have a lengthcorresponding to the distance between the outer edge of one recess 20 tothe outer edge of the adjacent recess 21 for which such open slot 30Amakes a connection between. That is, the open slots 30A each have alength corresponding to the distance between adjacent recesses 20, 21that the slot 30A connects together. The width of the open slots 30A mayrange from greater than 0 mm up to about 50 mm (or more or less),preferably from about 3.5 to 25 mm, and most preferably about 4.5 to 9mm. While the foregoing provides ranges for the width of the slots 30(i.e., 30A, 30B, 30C, etc.) of the invention, it should be appreciatedthat such slots 30 may have a width that corresponds to the size of therecesses 20,21 that are being adjoined by such slots 30.

EXAMPLE 1

Support plate in accordance with one or more embodiments of theinvention as shown in and described above in connection with FIGS. 8A-9B(e.g., the most preferred embodiment thereof) was installed over a48″×59″ plywood base. The plywood base was a 23/32″ Exposure 1 T&Gplywood subfloor adhered to and nailed to four 2″×2″ joists spaced 19.2″O.C. (on center). A thin-set mortar 102 mixed with water was troweledover the plywood subfloor with a 114″× 3/16″ V-notched trowel usingknown application techniques. A support plate 10D of the invention waslaid into the thin-set and smoothed with a grout float and rolled with a35 pound roller to eliminate air pockets. The system was then allowed tocure for 24 hours.

A thin-set mortar 200 mixed with water was deposited over the supportplate 10D of the invention using a 114″×⅜″ square-notched trowel. Duringthe installation, the mortar 200 was applied in a sufficient amount andwith both sufficient pressure and care to ensure that the mortar 200filled recesses 20, 21 and filled the open slots 30A to form mortarpillars 210 residing underneath the backside 12 of the plate IODmaterials. A plurality of 12″×12″ porcelain tiles were set in thethin-set by pressing down and sliding the tiles in a directionperpendicular to combed ridges of the mortar 200. After the tiles wereinstalled, the thin-set mortar 200,210 was allowed to cure for 24 hoursbefore grouting.

A water-based grout was forced into the ⅛″ grout joints using a rubberfloat, and excess grout was removed. The grout was allowed to set forapproximately 20 minutes before the installation was cleaned with asponge and water. The grouted installation was subsequently allowed tocure for 28 days.

At the end of this cure period, the installed system was subjected toload cycling as defined in ASTM C627. The deflection of the plywoodsubfloor was measured in the wheel path, midway between the 19.2″ O.C.joists. The installed system completed all fourteen cycles with noevidence of damage to the tile or grout joints. The maximum deflectionof the plywood subfloor during cycling was approximately 0.053″. Allevaluation criteria were based on 8 tiles and 8 grout joints in thewheel path of the Robinson-Type Floor Tester. In accordance with thePerformance Level Requirement Guide and Selection Table of the 2012 TCNAHandbook for Ceramic, Glass, and Stone Tile Installation (page 31), thetested installed system of the invention is classified as “EXTRA HEAVY”.

EXAMPLE 2

Support plate like that implemented in Example 1 was installed over a48″×49.5″ plywood base. The plywood base was a 23/32″ Exposure 1 T&Gplywood subfloor adhered to and nailed to four 2″×2″ joists spaced 16″O.C. Mortar 102, support plate 10D, thin-set mortar 200, tiles and groutwere all installed as described in connection with Example 1 above.

At the end of the grout cure period, this installed system was subjectedto load cycling as defined in ASTM C627. The deflection of the plywoodsubfloor was measured in the wheel path, midway between the 16″ O.C.joists. The installed system completed all fourteen cycles with noevidence of damage to the tile or grout joints. The maximum deflectionof the plywood subfloor during cycling was approximately 0.031″. Allevaluation criteria were based on 8 tiles and 8 grout joints in thewheel path of the Robinson-Type Floor Tester. In accordance with thePerformance Level Requirement Guide and Selection Table of the 2012 TCNAHandbook for Ceramic, Glass, and Stone Tile Installation (page 31), thetested installed system of the invention is classified as “EXTRA HEAVY”.

While the present invention has been particularly described, inconjunction with a specific preferred embodiment, it is evident thatmany alternatives, modifications and variations will be apparent tothose skilled in the art in light of the foregoing description. It istherefore contemplated that the appended claims will embrace any suchalternatives, modifications and variations as falling within the truescope and spirit of the present invention.

Thus, having described the invention, what is claimed is:

1. A support plate for installing facing materials on a substratecomprising: a sheet material having a top surface and a bottom surface;an underlay mat attached to the bottom surface of the sheet material; aplurality of spaced apart regions residing across the sheet materialcomprising spaced apart raised portions of the sheet material; and aplurality of open slots in the sheet material extending through thesheet material and exposing the underlay mat that is attached to thebottom of the sheet material.
 2. The support plate of claim 1 whereinthe sheet material comprises a plastic material.
 3. The support plate ofclaim 1 wherein the spaced apart raised portions of the sheet materialhave a single shape.
 4. The support plate of claim 1 wherein the spacedapart raised portions of the sheet material comprise a pattern of two ormore different shaped raised portions of alternating patterns.
 5. Thesupport plate of claim 1 wherein the spaced apart raised portions of thesheet material reside along a plurality of X-planes and a plurality ofY-planes, the open slots joining portions of the support plate in adirection selected from the group consisting of along a plurality of theX-planes, along a plurality of the Y-planes, along a plurality ofdiagonal adjacent X-planes, along a plurality of diagonal adjacentY-planes, and any combination thereof.
 6. The support plate of claim 1wherein the spaced apart raised portions of the sheet material defineapart adjacent recesses across the sheet material, each recess is openat the top and has bottom and sidewalls comprising the sheet material,the plurality of open slots extend through the sheet material to atleast a portion of a depth of the sidewalls, said open slots connectingat least two of the spaced apart defined adjacent recesses to eachother.
 7. The support plate of claim 6 wherein the open slots each haveslot sidewalls comprising the sheet material.
 8. The support plate ofclaim 6 wherein the open slots each have a slot thickness extending fromthe top surface of the plate to the bottom surface of the plate.
 9. Thesupport plate of claim 1 wherein the underlay mat is permanentlyattached to the bottom surface of the plate, whereby together the sheetmaterial, the underlay mat, and the spaced apart raised portions of thesheet material define a plate having a thickness extending from a topsurface to a bottom surface thereof.
 10. The support plate of claim 9wherein the plurality of open slots extend through the sheet material atthe top surface of the plate and expose a top surface of the underlaymat that is attached to the bottom of the plate.
 11. The support plateof claim 1 wherein the plurality of open slots contact and join two ormore adjacent regions of the sheet material to each other.
 12. Thesupport plate of claim 1 wherein the plurality of open slots extendpartially into the sidewalls of the bottom surface of the plate.
 13. Thesupport plate of claim 6 wherein the plurality of open slots extendpartially into the recesses leaving about 50% sidewall height of thesidewalls within the recesses.
 14. The support plate of claim 1 whereinone or more of the plurality of open slots extend through the spacedapart raised portions of the sheet material to join adjacent spacedapart regions of the sheet material together.
 15. The support plate ofclaim 1 further including each of the spaced apart raised portionshaving a centrally located raised portion comprising the sheet material.16. The support plate of claim 15 wherein the centrally located raisedportion is a centrally located circular portion of the sheet material.17. The support plate of claim 1 wherein the plurality of spaced apartraised portions define adjacent recesses residing across the sheetmaterial that comprise an alternating pattern of circular recesses incombination with flared-square recesses, wherein adjacent ones of thecircular and flared-square recesses are joined together by the pluralityof open slots along one or more directional planes.
 18. A method offabricating a support plate for installing facing materials comprising:providing a sheet material having a top surface and a bottom surface;attaching an underlay mat attached to the bottom surface of the sheetmaterial; forming a plurality of spaced apart adjacent regions acrossthe sheet material comprising raised portions of the sheet material; andexposing a top portion of the underlay mat by providing a plurality ofopen slots in the sheet material extending entirely through the sheetmaterial from the top surface to the bottom surface thereof.
 19. Themethod of claim 18 wherein the underlay mat is permanently attached tothe bottom surface of the sheet material, portions of said underlay matbeing exposed in locations corresponding to said plurality of open slotsin the sheet material.
 20. A method of installing facing materialscomprising: providing a substrate; depositing a first mortar over saidsubstrate; attaching a support plate to the substrate via the firstmortar, the support plate at least comprising, a sheet material having atop surface and a bottom surface; an underlay mat attached to the bottomsurface of the sheet material; a plurality of spaced apart regionsresiding across the sheet material comprising raised portions of thesheet material; and a plurality of open slots in the sheet materialextending through the sheet material and exposing the underlay mat thatis attached to the bottom of the plate; depositing a second mortar oversaid support plate to fill both said spaced apart regions and saidplurality of open slots, said second mortar residing within saidplurality of open slots contacting exposed portions of said underlaymat; and providing a facing material over said second mortar.